Bank asked to compensate customer who lost money due to power failure at ATM

Bank asked to compensate customer who lost money due to power failure at ATM

The Pune District Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (PDCGRF) has directed a co-operative bank to compensate a customer after he approached it alleging that he lost Rs 45,000 after his debit card got stuck inside the money vending machine due to power failure. The customer, Vora Ram Chaudhari, a resident of Ganesh Nagar on Mohammadwadi Road, claimed that someone else used the card to withdraw the sum.

The bank-Saraswat Co-Operative Bank Limited-had denied the claim made by Chaudhari arguing that it was the responsibility of the customer to call up the helpline number to block the debit card if it got stuck inside the machine. The bank also claimed that the complaint was fake as many other customers had used the same ATM kiosk to withdraw cash after the alleged power failure.

The bank also submitted before the forum that the complaint by Chaudhari with the National Payments Corporation of India was discarded by the latter. The forum, headed by VP Utpat, however, held that it was the responsibility of the bank to make sure that the customer gets the cash which he withdraws from his account.

“If the customer does not get the money he withdraws from his account, it’s a lacuna in the service provided by the bank. It should make all arrangements and put in place checks to ensure that no one other than the customer gets his hands on his own money,” the forum observed.

Merely producing the record showing withdrawal of the sum using a debit card allotted to a customer doesn’t fulfill the responsibility of the bank. The forum directed the bank to return Rs 45,000 and pay an additional amount of Rs 7,000 as compensation for the mental and physical trouble caused due to the incident.

Source :BankingUpdates.